At 8:00 AM -0600 4/5/97, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>I am not going to cite, even in part, the post to which I am responding
>because I think it would distract from the point I want to make (Other
>readers may be less obtuse than I, but I had to read throough it twice to
>be quite sure what Micheal was being thanked for). Suffice it to say that
>Brian was noting that he had been removed from another list that will not
>tolerate deviation from a particular theological perspective while Micheal
>had expressed a view that implicitly called for tolerance of just such a
>perspective. I must say that as a B-Greeker, I deeply value the tolerance
>without for a moment publicly endorsing that perspective, whether or not I
>happen to share it.

Amen. The note that I sent to Brian was private, not intended for B-Greek
at all, and certainly not meant to push one theological perspective over
any other. [By the way, I harbor no ill will toward Brian for posting my
comment to B-Greek, since I too have been guilty of forgetting that
something was posted only to me and later posting a reply to the whole
list!]

>There is no demand or expectation on B-Greek that posters will hue to any
>particular theological orthodoxy, and for that the simple reason is that
>dialogue would in that case all too quickly develop into a flame war or
>into the e-equivalent of CALKOS HCWN H KUMBALON ALALAZON. What is at once
>Christian charity and common courtesy requires respect for diversity of
>opinion--including opinions running counter to one's own convictions
>regarding what is truth and what is error. This is not a matter of
>promoting error or of tolerating it but of preserving an open and mutually
>respectful forum for discussion...

This was exactly the reason for my note to Brian, to encourage him for
having been brave enough to state openly his position without fear of
reprisal. I would gladly give the same encouragement to anyone stating a
much more 'conservative' view if I thought that stating that view had
required particular courage.